


On a Twin Full Moon

by The_Exile



Category: Star Trader, Super Hydlide, イース | Ys
Genre: Crack Crossover, Crack Treated Seriously, Demons, Diary/Journal, IN SPACE!, M/M, POV First Person, Rituals, Roos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 13:52:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15366081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Exile/pseuds/The_Exile
Summary: This being a true account of the adventurer Adol Christin's success in infiltrating the secret rites of the Roos and discovering the secret of their origin.





	On a Twin Full Moon

Though they may beggar belief, I swear by my reputation as an adventurer that these are the true records of everything I witnessed at the lake in the Great Forest of Celceta, during the secret rites of the Roos performed only during a double full moon - omitting, sadly, the details I was made to swear to the Saras and the Elder Roo that I would never speak of it to anyone.

I apologise for the quality of my typing and the many mistakes I have been forced to go back and edit. This is my first time using a typewriter while in Roo form and, while the device was practically built for Roo-Human interaction, its key presses still require a lot of fine dexterity in the paws of an animal I only inhabit the body of on special occasions. I hope that such practice controlling a Roo body will aid me in some day trusting myself with a weapon in this form, maybe a specially crafted dagger, or perhaps with the precise incantations of fire magic to defend myself with. I have been warned, however, by the Roo Elders that a Roo is naturally a peaceful creature, taking a dislike in harming others that borders upon spiritual allergy, and that a violent act in the presence of another Roo while myself a Roo would be unavoidably punished by ostracism. In fact, there is a chance of backlash in my own body if I am spiritually a Roo, which could cause the transformation magic to malfunction. 

(We then discussed whether there was a link between this and the corrupted transformation magic used on me, that created a 'Dark Roo', which was capable of using fire magic aggressively. However, that is a discussion for another day, one that I would be fascinated to look into but realise the dangers of dabbling in demonic magic.)

I should point out that the whole thing would have been a lot easier if I wasn't the only person doing it. I had originally asked Dogi to accompany me but he has a rather odd objection to transforming into a Roo: he does not like the Roo version of his name. I personally think 'Roogi' suits him - the name sounds like 'rogue' or 'rugged', just as my own name 'Adoroo' is a pun on 'adored'. However, he finds the names childish. I am not sure exactly what makes him think it is less childish to refuse to accompany his partner on a dangerous mission just because of a silly nickname. However, I do see that he is a lot less experienced as a Roo than I am and so may cause more trouble than he prevents by causing some unfortunate social faux pas or accident from physical clumsiness. I am reminded of the incident when I first transformed, I tripped over my own tail and almost pitched a townsperson straight into a pool of lava. I still say that it wasn't my fault as they should know to put guard rails up by now but I do not need a repeat of the incident while infiltrating a ceremony of vital importance to the Roos, so alone I went.

As mentioned, the moons were both full, particularly bright at that, casting silvery-blue trails across the clear, calm waters of the dark lake, its depths invisible but with a feeling of sacred benevolence. This forest clearing was completely untouched by human hands. Even the Roos only visited it for the ceremony, or so the Elder told me. It was well hidden behind one of the densest sections of the Great Forest, right in the heart, usually guarded by the fiercest monsters that had for some reason, along with so many other dangerous predators, evolved to ignore Roos.

(After what I've seen, I'm now fairly sure I know exactly the sort of power that protects them.)

The twin moons always remind me of another pair of equally beautiful twins, also shrouded in a silvery-blue aura. I have often wondered if the Goddesses Feena and Reah are in any way related in aspect to the Moons but I am no priest and the Goddesses claim, as relatively young and inexperienced deities, not to be sure themselves.

I feel great sorrow and longing whenever I think about the Goddesses and what they have to endure, and that I can probably never see them again. They have their duties and destinies that were there before me and have nothing to do with me, though, I guess.

I remember seeing a Roo mother with her young cubs playing among the Goddess statues that now shield the Black Pearl, the youngest Roos I had ever seen. The sanctuary must have been a very trusted and safe place for the Roos if they felt able to let babies play out in the open like that. This in turn reminded me of how little I actually know about Roos. It also reminded me that the Goddesses had, upon occasion, let slip clues that the Roos had been there before even they came to Ys, that Feena and Reah did not know their every secret. 

They had been pronounced 'sacred beasts' not because of any conract to serve the Goddesses or special gifts given to them but because the Goddesses themselves acknowledged them to already have power, and a strange purity of soul, despite technically registering as demons on the radar of black magic that dealt with such.

It was at that moment, watching young Roos skip and dance and bounce around the divine statues, that I knew my next journey had to lead me back to the hidden world of the Roos, to learn their secrets.

Bidding farewell to Dogi, I boarded the ship to Celceta. Dogi, meanwhile, returned to Felghana to sort out family matters as he often did while he was unable to accompany me on my adventure. My voyage was surprisingly uneventful and the vessel made it in one piece to Selray, where I said a brief hello to Ozma before heading off to Danan where I remembered that Duran had promised to store away the more precious artifacts, including our Sacred Beast collars, in the town's reliquary. He did not ask why I needed the collars and accepted that I did not want company.

After leaving Danan I took the old road to the Roo colony, slipping into my disguise on the way there. It wasn't really a 'disguise' any more, as I was fooling nobody - the Elder knew I was a shapeshifting human and had no doubt told everyone. They accepted me as a Roo when I was in Roo form, the Elder warning me that I was, for all intents and purposes, a real Roo, body and soul. I was even allowed to witness the ceremony with only some persuasion and bribery. Once again I had lost all of the masterwork weapons of rare alloys, the relics I had not stored away somewhere already, my collected money and supplies. 

"A Roo does not have such possessions," the Elder explained, "Our shop's profits go into the communal pool of this colony. A Roo takes extra care to divest themselves of all material desires before the ceremony, which requires extra purity of soul. We're not even allowed to keep our Roda fruit stash, although there is a Roda tree near the clearing and we're allowed to chew the leaves to induce visions during the ritual."

My imagination entertained by thoughts of Roos tripping their little heads off, I agreed to relinquish my possessions for now - I've survived on next to nothing before - and I was allowed to follow the others through the vast, sprawling warrens in the side of the mountain, too large for a human to follow, far too complex to traverse without the Roo's hidden knowledge. I was glad I hadn't managed to provoke hostility in the creatures; while they were virtually incapable of directly harming someone, I'd seen them defend themselves by getting their predators horribly lost in dangerous environments, kiting them into the paths of far larger beasts or even into traps already laid in ancient ruins. They weren't above sneaking around and stealing either. I was glad the little creatures had some self-preservation sense although I sometimes worried that it would not be enough to stave off the inevitable Romun attempt at conequest, with their huge numbers, technology and ingenuity and willingness to do absolutely anything to anyone.

I avoid politics like the plague on humanity it is but I have to admit an increasing fear for the future whenever I see the Romun Empire conquer another land and turn into yet another mining operation - and not just because of my repeated horrible experiences with ancient curses constantly triggered by mining operations.

Anyway, after I had believed we must have been wandering for hours in pitch darkness - a Roo's eyes are better adapted to darkness than a human's but there was no light in the tiny crawl spaces - and probably crossed the entire mountain range, we emerged into the clearing in the deepest depths of the Great Forest. The sun had been oppressively bright and hot when I entered the Colony but now the moon was out, along with a shimmering canopy of stars. The perfect sky made me remember why I sleep rough so often even when I don't technically need to. (That, and I like to be alone or with trusted travel companions.) The group went silent except for quietly but firmly given orders of the Roo Elder to the different groups who had different roles in the ritual. Females and males, young and old, particularly blessed (based upon aptitude with their own unique magic that they were not forthcoming with information about), those with particular skills such as Cleria-working or trading or lorekeeping - all had their place in the formations of Roos that arranged themselves in a semicircle around the vast lake. I had not been aware that so many Roos existed - the Elder had explained that they migrated from all over the world on this particularly sacred pilgrimage, or had their own smaller event if they absolutely couldn't travel, although of course this did not put one in direct contact with the miracle itself, only made you spiritually linked to it and so prone to visions. I had been told nothing about the 'miracle' itself other than that it had to be seen and experienced for oneself, and that it had happened since the Roos first came to these parts.

"The first Roos were called the Sarahs, and were like us but with unimaginably greater power, like deities themselves," explained the Elder, "They came from the stars. We all did. And this is the one time when we return to our origin."

The Roos completed their formation, something like a dancing, shifting labyrinth that crackled with arcane energy. I was forbidden from giving out details but the amount of energy coming off the Roos was tangible, the air thick and crackling as though a storm was brewing. They chanted words that I am also forbidden to relate, also I cannot give out specific details of their movement patterns, other than there was a lot of rotating in circles, spiralling in and out, still maintaining a rather confusing labyrinth that the highest ranking Roos would wander through. I was given my own place in this ritual, among the lorekeepers and remembrancers, as I seemed so keen to make notes on everything that was happening. I didn't understand half of what was said and was forbidden from taking it away from the ritual site but I diligently repeated and wrote down what I was told.

"Just like Eldeel's sacred books of fate, the act of recording it, of committing it to memory down the generations and verifying it as truth, is significant in and of itself," the Elder had explained to me, "A Roo's lifespan is short compared to a human's but our memories are more well documented, so who has the more immortal soul?"

I did not wish to get into a religious debate when I was a not quite fully trusted guest. so I remained silent. The chanting and dancing went on, the moons came more and more into focus, their light reflected on the mirror of the lake becoming brighter and the shapes they revealed now more obvious.

Something was emerging from the lake, the waters rippling around it. Everyone who saw it gasped in wonder, then went silent, giving rapt and worshipful attention to the iron fortress that rose from the lake. 

It looked like something I had seen in the core of Ys, or in the cursed Ark of Napishtim, or in the Eldeeni vaults. Its technology was beyond anything possible in current human civilisation. Its architecture was all curved metal surfaces with twinkling lights, then a doorway emerged from the front of it, a hatch from which stairs came down, giving the front of the fortress the appearance of a tiered ziggurat. All of this was utterly silent except for the softest of swishes and melodic chimes, the lights pulsing and flowing whenever anything happened. The Elder Roo hopped up to the stairs first, indicating in what order the ranks should approach the structure. My own unit was allowed near the front. As we approached the entrance and began the ascent of the great staircase, I saw my first glimpse of the being known as a Sarah.

Our host, appearing in the doorway, resembled a Roo in most ways, except smaller and more elegant, with long, slim legs and tail, a slightly more animalistic rodent-like face with long snout and beady black eyes that still sparkled with intelligence, more pronounced large feet for hopping around, their much finer fur a lighter colour, mostly light blonde or ginger. I could sense even greater magic coming from them, more like the aura I see around the Goddesses.

I heard in my mind its voice, a soft melodic chime, welcoming me in. I could tell that everyone around me heard the same voice. We advanced slowly up the stairs in a great procession, now silent where before the singing and chanting had reached rather a fervor.

The doorway was wide enough to allow several Roos inside at once but it still took us a while, after which we were escorted down a series of almost organic winding corridors, some of them suddenly sloping up or down, some of them even requiring jumps up to higher balconies that only a Roo would manage effortlessly. The interior was even more bizarre than the outside, with its ridged vein-like passages full of small twinkling lights that swarmed through the walls like fireflies, making strange melodic tinkling noises. Occasionally I saw a large glass orb about the size of a Ro, embedded into the floor. Glowing red sigils and images flashed above it like flares on a larger fire. Ome of them were recognisable Roonic, although the string of numbers, letters and technical terms made no sense to me. Other symbols could have been anything. We stopped in what I recognised as the central chamber of the structure, a large room with four wings, several recesses in the floor looking as though they had been eroded by water, although everything was dry, sleek and black like a beetle's shell. Orbs of light were dotted around this room, surrounding a larger orb in the centre. The Sarah stopped at this orb and ran their hands along it, waving them in intricate patterns like a musical conductor, causing more and more sigils and images to appear and whirl around the sphere.

I began to recognise these: a map of the stars, a chart such as a ship might use to nagivate. I commented upon this and the Elder Roo shushed me, whispering that it was for a vessel, yes, but one that flew through the stars.

Instinctive panic filled me at this possibility, as I have no luck with boats and I imagine that falling from a stargoing vessel would be a lot more tragic than falling into the sea. It was a long drop and scientists were theorising that, as the air is so thin even on top of a mountain, one would not be able to breathe. The Elder Roo reassured me that a Star Trader (as they were called, being mostly trading vessels) was an enclosed environment, impossible to fall out of, made of strong metals that could withstand the pressure and heat involved in star travel, with certain magical force shielding techniques to deflect space rocks, which were apparently a thing. There were still dangers involved in the journey, including a possibility of failing to even get off the ground, but the crew were experienced in dealing with such problems.

So, I recalled, were the sailors of the countless ships that my appalling luck had mysteriously capsized. 

"You're probably tasty to sea monsters," the Elder Roo told me, "Don't worry, space doesn't have giant monsters."

"The last sea monster was supposed to be fictional," I sighed, "Is that supposed to be reassuring, anyway?"

"You're free to stay behind if you're seriously worried about bad luck. It's been done before, when the augurs detected bad omens around a person."

I knew however that my adventurous spirit, my wanderlust, my destiny to explore the furthest shores, would never let me off without indulging my curiosity about this frontier that no other human had ever dreamt of crossing. Suffice to say, I went there, into the black void of space that turned out to be so roiling and chaotic and wild, so lethal if you calculate the slightest thing wrong, so vast and undending. I returned relatively unscathed. I can't pass on the secret - to say any more about the holy rite I witnessed up there would be a grave violation of my bond with the Roos, and I do not hold humanity as more important than Roos, not after what I have done as a Roo. Besides, the technology would not be reproducible - it was made off-world with metals not occurring here and everything about its design is made for the comfort and safety of Roos.

I apologise that my findings could not be of more use to the general public, however, I will finish my account of my journey with one comment: Roos are more than we humans let on.

A lot more.

Addendum: Only for the eyes of Dogi Wallcrusher. The following footnote is transcribed into Roonic which I have left Dogi with a key to reading. I am aware that a couple of other scholars can read Roonic but I doubt that Luta Gemma or Regg have malicious intentions or any reason to steal from Dogi.

I trust you, as my constant companion, where I would trust no-one else in the world. The following I am not technically permitted to disclose but I believe on other should be aware of them, in case anything unfortunate happens to me, a not unlikely scenario considering my attraction towards danger and luck with boats. Assuming I haven't dragged you into the same mess, the responsibility lies with you.

I've found out why Roos register as demons. Before you worry, no, Roos are not malicious. In fact, to a Roo, a demon does not feel malicious. They do not belong on our planet. They are inimical to it, in fact. However, in the depths of space they are just one more large, hungry creature, the type that Roos always need to know the locations of, to arrange some kind of peaceful coexistence with if necessary. Cataloguing them finding a way to negotiate with them, to trade something if possible, while discovering a weakness or some way to defend themselves if they had to... demons and humans alike were just two more races on the list. 

The demons did prove... problematic, to be truthful. They were unusually large, hostile, magically potent and cunning. The portals they designed had some leakage, resulting in cross contamination, altering the ship's entire crew. The Roos began to cut back on their operations in this sector although the rest of the prime Sarahs are still going in other sectors of the galaxy. To the laid-back little creatures, it wasn't even that big of a deal. There's a big wide galaxy out there left unexplored.

I seriously considered going with them, especially when they offered me a job as a security officer after a containment breach incident. Fighting a three-headed toad-monstrosity the size of a Gelaldy with only a carving knife and a welding torch is no joke, by the way, but fortunately I... changed. I think it was a combination of the violent impulses alien to a Roo's soul and the demonic energy still leaking from the portals. I was in that form you saw me last in when I slew the thing. I don't remember much apart from that other than people screaming at me that the portals had gone haywire and people were being evacuated using emergency teleportation magic. I don't think it works that well with fake Dark Roos, because I ended up in a bloody, bruised heap somewhere. I was lucky that you found me. You always seem to know where I am these days. I'm also lucky that the collar itself wasn't cursed not to come off. The dratted thing now only turns me into a Dark Roo, mind you.

Anyway, where was I? Yes, they offered me a position on board their ship, even though they knew I wasn't a full time Roo, as it were. They saw potential in me to do things other Roos couldn't do. It would have been an adventure beyond my wildest expectations but I had to turn them down. For one thing, that's a really dangerous ship to be on when it's wrecked, as I previously mentioned. And most importantly, I wouldn't know when I would ever see you again. Unlike my other adventures, there'd be no way for you to conceivably follow me, arrive just in time at the last second.

One day I'll take you with me across the stars. I swear by my reputation.. no, my even stronger loyalty to you, Dogi. But for now, my place is here on Earth with you.

Besides, there'll always be another twin full moon and there'll always, always be Roos.

**Author's Note:**

> Apart from Roos and Sarahs looking alike, the early Hydlide and Ys games shared the bump system. Web searches for things related to Hydlide often als get ys-related searches. Finally, I associate Hydlides 3 and 4, at least, with the same good quality music as the ys series.


End file.
